The Boarding House

Jovana Koldzic

Mrs. Johnson

Com 102-014

2 November 2016

The Boarding House

        During the early twentieth century, society in Dublin was conservative. There is not acceptable anything besides traditional woman, who is just dedicate to her family all time. In the story “The Boarding House,” written by James Joyce, the main character Mrs. Mooney was a traditional woman who was forced to open a Boarding House, even though she felt shame from an unsuccessful marriage; despite this, she tried to do the best for her children as a mother.

        Mrs. Mooney has a difficult marriage with an alcoholic husband; it ends with separation. On begin of the story, writer explaining us who was her father and what happened after his death. “As soon as his father-in-law was dead, Mr. Mooney began to go to the devil. He drunk, plundered the till, ran headlong... By fighting his wife in the presence of customers and by buying bad meat he is ruined his business” (Joyce 416). Mr. Mooney is completely out of touch with his family; instead of taking care of family, he is ruining the only source of theirs earnings. Mr. Mooney making a lot other troubles to his wife, beside that he is abusing her, he doesn’t dedicate as father to his children. His behavior, especially when he came home with the cleaver, results that his wife leaves him and start new life with children. Finally, Mrs. Mooney released that wasn’t safe environment for them anymore.

        Mrs. Mooney opens her own business to provide a better life for her children, even if society expects her to be passive spouse in a patriarchal household. “Mrs. Mooney, who had taken what remained of her money out of the butcher business and set up a boarding house in Hardwicke Street, was a big imposing woman” (Joyce 416). We should have known from the start that she was in control of things. Like many women of the twenty-first century society, Mrs. Mooney was independent and instead of feeling sorry for herself that she had to separate her family and raise her kids alone, she started a business and moved on with her life. Nevertheless, Mrs. Mooney did care for her children and housed them, but like the characteristics we would assume a father would have, she wants to form her children's lives and make sure that they are stable and secure. “Her house had a floating population made up from tourists from Liverpool and the Isle of Man and, occasionally, artistes from the music halls” (Joyce 416). She made good choice, boarding house worked very successful. Main idea for boarding house is not to be just motel where tourists and workers will sleep; that should be good place, where people could have fun.

        Mrs. Mooney tries to manipulate her daughter’s life so she will marry a man who has a good reputation. Mooney was aware Mr. Doran "had been employed for thirteen years in a great Catholic wine-merchant's office and publicity would mean for him, perhaps, the loss of his sit" (Joyce 418). Upon revealing her knowledge to the couple, she shamelessly informed Mr. Doran she wanted reparation. However, only one type of reparation would satisfy Mrs. Mooney, and that was marriage. In addition to Mr. Doran, many other men had stayed there at the boarding house and made advances towards Polly which Mrs. Mooney did not approve of, and often she pondered the idea of sending her daughter Polly away to work in typewriting again. However, Mrs. Mooney felt the men were just passing by and were not actually seriously interested in her daughter, therefore paying no attention. However, for some strange reason Mr. Doran was of a different nature. She allowed the relationship to go on without intervention, possibly because she knew he made good money, along with having a secure job, working for a great Catholic wine-merchant.